Glimpses of a Greek Catholic Hierarchical Divine Liturgy

The following video contains glimpses of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated on March 20, 2011 in preparation for the Electoral Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which will elect a new Head of the UGCC (the Major Archbishop of Kyiv, or, as some would say, the Greek Catholic Patriarch of Kyiv).

Participating in the Divine Liturgy, headed by UGCC Administrator Most Rev. Igor (Voznyak), were all the bishops of the UGCC from Ukraine and abroad. They will collectively take part in the Electoral Synod. (H/t Byzantine Texas)

Yes - he retired recently:ELECTORAL SYNOD OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMENCES

On Sunday, March 20 a hierarchal Divine Liturgy was celebrated in St. George Cathedral in L'viv, Ukraine marking the official beginning of the Electoral Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which will elect a new Patriarch. Forty bishops representing every Ukrainian Catholic eparchy in the world gathered for the Divine Liturgy and spent the day in prayer and mediation in preparation for this rare and solemn event in the life of the Church.see:http://www.stamforddio.org/

I may show this to my CCD students. Just last week I told them about Vladimir the Great who chose Christianity for his kingdom over the Jewish and Muslim religions largely because of the reports he got from his emissaries when they witnessed the Divine liturgy at Saint Sophia's. They reported to him that in viewing the Mass they did not know whether they were in Heaven or on earth!

The claim to the title of "Patriarch" was maintained by a previous head of the UGCC (forget his name), now deceased. It is still used popularly within the UGCC, even though the Holy See has never sanctioned it, using instead the title of "Major Archbishop," which is a recent innovation. I believe this restriction has something to do with the Orthodox having the more rightful claim (their schismatic stance notwithstanding) that their seat in Kiev is the proper one for a patriarchate.

He was granted the title Patriarch by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and was so commemorated in every Ukrainian Catholic Church I've attended.

Whatever the Greek Catholics may or may not have done, the sixth canon of Nicaea I says it is the formal recognition of the Roman Bishop that makes a patriarch, and the Pope never created him a patriarch.

The purpose of the Sixth Canon was to reaffirm the patriarchal status and authority of the Bishop of Alexandria against the Meletian schismatics. It was reaffirmed by reference to the Roman Bishop's perennial, customary acknowledgement of his patriarchal rank.

The new Patriarch has been elected by the Holy Synod, and has requested a communion from the Pope. He was Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy in Argentina, and speaks several languages. Na Mnogaja Ljeta.

The thing is, in the Catholic system currently (though not in the Orthodox), there is only one non-ceremonial Patriarch per ritual family. "Patriarch" is held by the head of the ranking sui juris church within each Rite.

Now, there is a good argument for recognizing "Byzantine-Slav" as a separate "Rite" or ritual family now from "Byzantine-Greek." But the thing is...if the Orthodox do ever reunite, Moscow would clearly take the precedence there.

Of course, the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch currently takes the precedence among Byzantine(-Greek) Catholics, even though Constantinople is the "natural" holder of that position.

Then again, the Orthodox do not use the term "patriarch" so logically, extending it even to churches that clearly are not part of separate Rites (ie, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc). Then again, the West gives "ceremonial" patriarchates, so, whatever.